Thursday, December 25, 2008

For Christmas this year we've got kind of a long post, but stick with it, because like all good stories worth telling, it's a bit of a long one.

Oh chicken moving day. Bonnie said it would be a crazy and funny, and those chickens did not fail to deliver.

The chickens haven't been coming out of their houses much since the snow fell and so they hadn't really been eating much either. I started giving them grain inside the chicken houses and putting the buckets of food right outside the doors, but it's still a little cold for them and they have trouble moving around in the snow. They went from laying about four dozen eggs a day to laying less than one dozen. Last winter Oliver moved all of the chickens over to the other greenhouse at the big white house. They cleared out all the old plants in there and made the soil super fertile, and stayed warm all winter. This year he has so many more chickens than last year, so he wasn't super anxious to move them.

Chickens do not like snow as much a Krysta likes snow

We had originally planned to move them at night, while they were a bit calmer and sleepy. Apparently he still did a bit of chasing them around last year, but they stacked into plastic totes pretty easily. Plans eventually got changed and we ended up doing it the next morning. The Logger and I found as many plastic totes with lids as we could, but even with so many of them, we knew we'd have to do it in more than one trip. When we were all ready to go Oliver walked up to us and said "OK, how do we do this?" No idea Oliver, you're the chicken moving expert. It ended up that Oliver and I were the ones catching chickens, while the Logger (who is also a ninja as it turns out) kept them from jumping back out of the totes. Oliver reminded me of my camera, so I took a few pictures during this ridiculous task.

Logging-Ninja skillz

The chickens were a little unsure at first, but many of them are used to being picked up so don't freak out a ton. Once they started to realize what was going on though, they all started running around like crazy. Nisi did not help the situation at all and I eventually had to lock her in the kitchen. Oliver, who is quite tall and quick, was grabbing several chickens at a time, but I could only really catch and carry them one at a time. At one point Oliver told me I was doing such a good job, considering I wasn't very keen on even touching the chickens when I first got here. It's true. Since when in my life have I even run after a bird, instead of running away? Never. Not once. And I'd like to make it clear that it's not because I think chickens are gross, it's just because they have wings and beaks and scary ways of being. It helps that they don't actually fly. I will admit that when I sometimes caught them without holding their wings I had a mini-panic when they flapped around in my hands.

Oliver with 4 or 5 chickens

Finally the totes were all filled and piled into the truck. Oliver drove it over to the greenhouse and got as close as he could in the snow, which ended up with the truck just down a small hill, but still very close. When we opened the totes the chickens were all huddled in together and looking rather cuddly. They made no attempt to climb out of the totes, so we had to kind of dump the totes over and encourage them to check out their new home. They seemed to get happy rather quickly after the ordeal. We closed up the remaining holes in the greenhouse, moved the nesting box and various chicken supplies in, and then got back in the truck to go deal with the second load.

Settled and cuddled

The chickens were unsure of this new and white tunnel

Oliver backed down the hill and backwards up the driveway of the big white house and then as he pulled forward and turned towards the street, the truck got stuck. When we got out to see what the problem was, we couldn't really tell. The wheels were on the ground, not really dug in at all and the snow was not very deep. We got some snow shovels and tried to dig the truck out, but that didn't work. So then The Logger tried bouncing on the back bumper to get some weight on the tires, no luck. He and Oliver pushed while I drove, still no. Then Max called and Oliver told him to bring the Jeep and some chains to try and pull us out. While we waited, we tried putting wood under the tires to give them something to grip to, but nothing was working. Finally Max and Bonnie arrived with the Jeep, but our angle was so weird that the Jeep couldn't do much and when we tried to put the Jeep at a better angle it ended up getting a little stuck in the snow. Finally we decided that since there were so many people there, Bonnie should drive the truck and the other four of us would push (I would like to state for the record that I only suggested Bonnie should drive because she is pregnant and falling in the ice and snow would stink. I did not suggest she should drive because she isn't tough, ok?). This crazy idea actually worked and the truck bounced forward and the wheels caught.

But why is it stuck?

Very bad angle for the rescue Jeep

But the story is not over yet! The truck now had to move backwards to have enough room to pull forward down the driveway and onto the street. The Logger got in and started to back it up, only to get stuck again, this time at a slightly less ridiculous angle. So we got ready to push again, but this time it didn't want to come out. We were able to hook the Jeep up to it again and with the Jeep pulling and three of us pushing, the truck got out of the ditch we had dug ourselves and aimed straight at the road. Hoo-ray. It's worth mentioning that Talula was asleep in her car seat in the Jeep through all of this.

What was left after the truck was finally out

Oliver then went with Bonnie and Max to the Inn to help his dad with something that needed to be done that afternoon and the Logger and I headed back to catch the last load of chickens. This should have been pretty quick and simple as well. The remaining chickens were mostly closed into one of the chicken houses and we had already brought over the extraneous stuff and gotten that mostly set up. So I ran around catching the chickens, sometimes asking The Logger to help me corner them. One particular breed of chicken is super speedy and hard to catch, but we eventually got all the ones not trapped in the house. When we went to get the ones that were in the house, that went super fast until the end when there were only a few left. We quickly realized that we could not have more than one white chicken in a tote, because those ladies are just too crazy. I started getting dizzy chasing the remaining chickens around, so The Logger took over. He's a very tall guy with a long reach, so he just kind of reached out and grabbed them like it was the easiest thing in the world. I have to practically get on top of them to catch them because I need two hands, but he just used his ninja skills and packed the rest of them up.

Then back into the truck and over to the greenhouse. Unfortunately we could not make it up the driveway even half way. It's a far enough walk to the greenhouse from where we were and those totes of chickens were pretty heavy. We carried two loads to the greenhouse when the Jeep showed up with Bonnie and Oliver. Oliver backed the truck out to the street and let the Jeep in first, then he attempted to back the truck up the driveway by flooring it with a good head start from the street. He only got a little further than we had. So we loaded the chicken totes on top of the Jeep and drove the remaining chickens over in that. Meanwhile several other people had been trying to get up the driveway, because there are more houses behind the big white house. Albert was worried that the plow would come and wouldn't be able to plow the driveway because of the truck. We got the rest of the chickens into the greenhouse speedily and then The Logger and I took the truck back to Teleion Holon, all before the plow came. Those freaking chickens better be so grateful.

Happy chickens

After we got back we threw our things together and headed out to spend the holiday with The Logger's family. We did not get stuck on the way there. Amazing.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Last night we went over to Theo's for a winter solstice party. It's hard to believe that last night was already the shortest day of the year and that days will start to slowly get longer. It is not hard to believe that it is winter though; a two day snow storm just ended as we were leaving Theo's party.

It was pretty much just the Teleion Holon crew at the party due to the weather. It's a good thing we're a big crew, because there was no mistaking that it was indeed a party. Theo's house is pretty amazing, and there's a little space with really fun acustics where he's got his instruments set up. Guv did a little one-man rock-out on the drum set with a microphone and sang a song about people being good and doing the right thing. It included lyrics like, "listen to your mom and knock down all the junk food factories." I managed to forget my camera, as usual, but Theo took some pictures, so maybe I'll be able to post evidence of this occasion after all.

I wandered around the house a little during the musical session. It's a nice sized house and it looks like someone put a lot of thought into it. When I went upstairs the only room with an open door was easily recognized as Theo's room, so of course I went in and looked around. His room kind of reminded me of a dorm room with all its mis-matched posters and printed quotes on the wall along with a lingering incense smell. He had a hand written sign that said "Strength" above the bathroom mirror, which I thought was pretty awesome. What better way to start your morning? Anyway I think Theo reads this blog and I should stop before he thinks I'm a total creeper, which I am.

Theo's such an interesting guy and I'm really glad we got to go over to his place. I had just been saying to Oliver that I thought it was a little odd that Theo was over here all the time, but we had never gone to his place. There's so much to learn about a person from their home and I don't just mean wandering into a bedroom. For example, none of us knew that Theo had a drum set. I never would have pegged Theo as the kind of guy to have one. I guess there's a downside to this kind of intimacy as well; if people came into my room and hung out they'd quickly realize the extent of my zebra and plastic animal obsession.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

All right everyone, I'm adding some new features to this blog. I was helping Oliver create a Teleion Holon blog and was inspired by some of the features I saw in other blogs we looked at.

There is now a navigation bar at the top of the page under a pretty terrible masthead. I'm not much of a graphic artist and I don't have any image editing software, so it'll have to do for now, until I can either get some software, or find someone to make one for me. Out of love. If you know of any free (read: illegal) copies of Photoshop, I'd love to know about it.

Another wonderful new feature is that by clocking the daily photo (Foto!) you will be taken to a full sized image. This is my second favorite feature after the nav link "The People," which sounds like a cult name, but is actually a little about the people I write about most frequently.

I'm finally done planting in the greenhouse! The last few times I went over there were not so terrible because I brought my computer and listened to Vegan Radio podcasts. My brain just needs something to think about and react to if I'm going to be doing repetitive tasks for hours at a time.

I went back to the greenhouse yesterday to make some row-cover magic and I took my camera.

Three and a half rows of salad goodness. Can I just point out how wonderful it is to listen to a vegan talk show while planting salad greens. It's pretty sweet.

These half-circle wires, called wickets for obvious reasons, were put in about 5-6 feet apart down every row.

A double-layer of row covers will keep the plants warm. Putting the row covers on wickets will prevent the row covers from freezing to the plants and will also stop them from pressing the plants down.

And then The Logger helped me knock all the snow off the greenhouse roof so that light could come in and the roof did not get too heavy. We got a crazy amount of snow since it started yesterday so this process of knocking snow off the roof with the high-tech broom gadget will need to be repeated as often as necessary. The Logger loves this job though, so it's good thing about winter for him.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Yesterday was more greenhouse planting. The sides of the greenhouse had so much snow an ice on them that they could not be rolled up, so we had to till with the greenhouse all closed, which made it kind of smoggy. We left it open for a few hours and I'll go back today to do more planting. No one can work in there when it's full of exhaust.

The Logger had come with me to give me a hand with rolling up the side (abandoned) and starting up the rototiller. It may be a little sad to admit, but I have never started a lawnmower in my life and the rototiller engine is the same idea. In my defense though I moved to the desert with my family before I was old enough to mow lawns, and we didn't have a lawn in Tucson, because that would be stupid.

Anyway, after much annoyance, the damn thing finally started up and The Logger started tilling. He had complained that he was moving in slow motion that day and true to form the greenhouse was already stinky though he had barley gone a few feet. So five-foot tiny Krysta took the tiller from six-foot extra-large Logger and speed-tilled the rest of the bed. Classic.

Anyway I want to put up pictures of the greenhouse once it's all planted. The salad looks so amazing and yummy. And it is.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

After years of avoiding it, I finally caved and purchased some long underwear. Long gone are the days where I would only be cold running to and from the subway. I spend enough time outdoors to justify this purchase, no matter how much I was trying to fight it. They're even nice indoors on chilly days, because Bonnie and Oliver don't heat the whole house, just the kitchen, which makes sense. No point in heating the rooms no one spends time in. It's cheaper and more efficient to just put on a sweater (and long underwear).

When it gets so cold the car doors won't close because the latch froze, it's time to think about ways to keep yourself as warm as possible. The Logger is outside right now trying to get his car door shut. I guess that one of the hidden dangers of smoking. If he had just let the chickens out and gone back to bed he wouldn't be stuck outside freezing, waiting for the car to heat up. At least it's not snowing.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

When I came back from NY after my ob had ended I rented a car and made some vague facebook references to having a puppy. To clear things up, I did not get a puppy. My friend Angie, who lives in Poultney. Bella was staying in the SoBro house with our friends while Angie had a job with the admissions department of Green Mountain College. She had to be on the road recruiting at high schools for a few months, so she was not able to look after Bella. When she found out that I would be going to NY for a job she suggested that I drive back with Bella, because her job is over now. She paid for the rental and I got to hang out with Bella. The poor little puppy got carsick though.

The drive back was a little crazy. The directions I got from google were not great and they were all back roads, often unmarked. I was able to get back without asking for directions or getting too lost. Four hours is not bad time. Returning the car turned out to be a bigger problem because no one knew where the Budget was. The Logger and I drove around Rutland forever trying to find this place. I now know Rutland pretty well. But this stupid Budget was tucked way back behind a shopping center and the sign in front was super tiny. I finally called Budget to find out exactly where it was. That's the last time I trust anyone else's directions. Poor Angie was waiting there forever. She doesn't have a cell phone, so I wasn't able to call her. Of course the place was closed when I finally got there so they charged my card for it. Gr.

While I was in NY, I took Bella to the dog park on Thanksgiving. She was kind of hilarious because she was so excited to be out, but she was also terrified. The other dogs tried to play with her, but she immediately jumped on my lap, or tried to cower behind Slocum, who had come with us.

I took her back to the SoBro house after that and hung out with my friends there while they cooked a turkey. Their dinner prompted me to go out and buy some fruit while I waited fr 6pm to roll around, which was when I planned to head over to my own Thanksgiving, which would be vegan. We had a little dance party during all of this.

And of course, the vegan Thanksgiving was amazing. Because really, everyone knows that the best part of Thanksgiving dinner are the sides.

Squash, sweet potatoes, kale, stuffing, bread, cranberry sauce, and dumplings (which I purchased from Dumpling Man). The best Thanksgivings I've ever had were the vegan and vegetarian ones.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Snow today!!! White, beautiful, amazing snow! I took Nisi out to the meadow and we ran around a bit. That dog loves snow so much! She ran about scooping snow into her mouth and jumping on me. What a wonderful way to start the day.

Theo came over today with the Sunday Times. He encouraged a fire in the dinning room, read the paper, talked a bit about blogging, attacked me with magazine perfume (ugh) and then took off. I guess it's hard for anyone to want to work when it's so cold and quiet outside. At least the chicken fence got fixed today and the eggs got washed. I guess since Alex left I've been less excited to work because I end up spending hours working alone, which makes me feel a little sad. I'm just so used to working with a bunch of people and spending down time alone, not the other way around. It's an adjustment, I'll get used to it. The days have been colder and darker, which probably doesn't help my mood.

Anyway I've decided to spend Christmas here in VT. Christmas has no religious meaning to me, but is a good excuse to be with the people you love (though it's a little troublesome that I need an excuse for that). I was going to have Christmas with my aunt in the Poconos, but the more I think about it, the less I want to go. Maybe if they were having it at home on Long Island I'd still be into it, but getting there sounds like a huge ordeal during an already nightmarish time to travel. They want to ski and make a big sport of the holidays, and I really just want to be warm and relax. Plus I don't like to ski. Of course the main reason I don't want to go is because I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend the holidays with than The Logger. I missed him terribly last time I left and I really don't want to repeat that so soon. Maybe I could ask him to come with me, but I think we'd both be happier here.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

I've been neglecting my blog and my photos. I have a bunch on my camera that need to be posted, but I am being oh so lazy. My sleep pattern is still all messed up and I usually blog in the morning. The Logger and I drove this woman, who works at the inn, to the bus station in White River Junction (90 minutes from here) in the middle of the night two nights ago and then picked her up last night at the same time. There was a bit of an ordeal involving some crap-tastic cars and shortage of gas and coolant, but everyone eventually ended up where they needed to go and she was very thankful for it.

A few people made negative comments about the whole ordeal and thought that maybe we had been taken advantage of or "suckered," but I really don't feel that way. I think that helping the people around you and those part of your community is generally more important than getting a few more hours of sleep. After all, working here on this farm I get no pay, but I am given food and shelter, the minimum needed to do this kind of job. She gave us gas money, the minimum needed to do this favor. I did the driving for the second night and other than being paid back for gas, I don't really want anything extra. I don't have a ton of money, but I'm not hurting and I never feel ok taking money from someone in a worse situation than myself, especially when I don't need it. Helping people can be its own reward. That being said, I am not keen on being taken advantage of and I let this woman know that we only took her because she had no other options and was in a bind. I am not so eager to do it again and I know The Logger isn't either.

The only regret I have is that the house is full of guests renting the 9 extra rooms for the weekend and they were up 2 hours after we got back. The kids are so loud in the hallway and I was not able to sleep in like I thought I would be. Maybe if I had known that would happen my willingness to help would have diminished slightly. I'm not a fan of napping, but I did sleep for a few hours this afternoon. That helped. Early to bed tonight. I can't wait to be back to waking up naturally at 6am.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Oh to be back in the VT. I feel like I never left, except that my sleeping pattern is all screwed up now. I knew I would miss it here, but I don't think I'd realized just how much. Some of my friends and co-workers commented on how grumpy I was and they were right. I didn't even enjoy my job as much as I usually do, and I love my job. Bradford even made fun of me for not wanting to climb the extension ladder. It's true that they freak me out, even though I love climbing ladders, but it's not like me to say no. Normally I just tell myself to suck it up and get on the rickety thing, reminding myself that I have never fallen off one, nor have I even seen anyone fall off of one. This time I told him I'd rather not. So he did it. Lame Krysta.

It didn't help that my normal "whatever" attitude clashed sharply with the "hurry up and freak out" attitude of one of my co-workers. I'm a bit spoiled by working with Bradford all the time because he trusts me enough to just let me do my job and know that it will all get done right. He also knows that if I have a problem, I'll ask for help. This other person did not know me. I guess I don't blame him for freaking out a little. He's very serious about his job and I like to goof around. It would be a little worrisome to walk into a theatre and see that your Master Electrician is 5 feet tall and looks like a kid. And she also sends silly emails and takes huge chunks of time out of hang and focus to teach interns and unskilled labor how to do the jobs they were hired for. But, it's low-budget. Not everyone knows how to focus every light and some people are trying to get over a fear of heights. I know everything will get done on time and I would never decline to answer a question just because we could potentially be done 3 hours early. If given a choice between working with people who know what they are doing but are annoying, and working with my friends who don't know everything but want to learn, I'll work with my friends every time. That's why I work for Keen company. I enjoy their work ethic of "If it's not fun, it's not worth doing." I like to keep my job fun. But not everyone find joy in the same things that I do. Some people don't care much for the process and only get something from the finished piece. I am not that person, but I think my co-worker was. At least Bradford got a laugh out of all of our bickering.

After everything though, the lights were done and I think the show looks great. And a shameless plug happens here: Go see Beasley's Christmas Party at Theatre Row if you happen to be in the NYC area. The designer folks did not even have to come in on Monday. I had hopes of leaving the theatre by noon on Monday, but I ended up having a ton of extra work. I left NY at 7:30, even though I had planned to leave at 5. Who knew that you needed a real credit card to pick up a rental car, instead of a debit card. Well too bad I had left it in the Bronx and I had to go all the way up there to get it and then head back to 43rd. Ah well. It was a nice night drive, but I was so tired by the end. I got in at 11:30. The cute freaking logger of mine had waited up.

So now it's back to Vermont farm work. I love it. I feel so relaxed again and I am catching up on all that sleep I lost in NY. I love living where I work. The subway is great, but not having an hour commute in the morning is quite wonderful. Not to mention the fact that I can not eat the lights at my other job, but I can eat the spinach I planted today. And I did. Tasty.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Yesterday I had hoped to avoid the whole turkey situation, but I was not planning to meet my friends Daniel and Ceora for vegan dinner until later. The SoBro kids made a pretty big deal about the turkey and at one point asked me to admit that it was a good looking turkey. I avoided the question. I did not, however, miss my turn to give my thanks, which I would love to relate here.

This Thanksgiving I have more to be thankful for than I have for a long time. I am thankful for all for the changes I have made in my life to get where I am today. I am thankful for my new friends and my new lifestyle. I am thankful for my old friends who have supported me through all of these changes as well, even changing dinner plans so that I could be with them for this holiday. I am thankful for my family who has also supported and put up with all my craziness. I am overly thankful that even though the economy is in terrible shape and people can't find jobs, I am still able to work for Keen Company (another set of people I am thankful to know), so that I can continue to work without pay on the farm. More than anything, I am thankful for John, my wonderful new friend who loves to wear purple crocs while he cuts down trees. I feel so lucky to know someone so wonderful.

I am also thankful that my best friend Joe is not answering his phone or even turning it on anymore because I don't want to talk to his stupid-face anyway.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

I'm so tired! Why am I even posting? You know how when you get so tired you can't even function enough to get yourself to sleep? That's what I'm doing now.

Today was one of those stupidly long days. I was so proud of myself for having gotten all the lights up and working at the time I said I would have it all done, but then focus took forever. Higgs and I ended up staying and working while everyone else went to dinner and got more work done in that hour than they had gotten done in four hours. It wasn't really their fault, there were too many people there and the wrong people were up on ladders. This should have been a much easier focus than it was.

At some point between last night and this morning one of our rented I-Cues got broken. I feel very certain that it wasn't our crew that did it, but was one of the people who have been passing through the building for the film shoot that's going on. First of all, I'm mad because these film people barge in here and we have to move all of our stuff out of the space we rented. They have infinitely more money and people than we do, yet we have to cut into our time to clear a path for them. Then somehow one of our really fancy expensive instruments gets broken. Luckily the rental guy was cool about it and is bringing a new one in the morning. I don't know who' paying for it and how much it will be though.

I have been doing nothing other than working. I miss VT so much. I miss the logger. This trip would have been 100% better if he were here. My friends are great, I just have so much trouble keeping up with everything because I have no desire to. I need someone else who agreed that faced-paced is not always the best thing ever. SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE PEOPLE!!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

I'm going to bed three hours later than usual and setting my alarm for the same time as always. Ugh. I hate not living where I work. Do I really need to get up 2 hours before it's time to be at work? /Whine.

Trip was fine. Nothing exciting to report. I've missed my friends and I was crazy-happy to see them, especially when Slokes started singing Aladin to me for some unknown reason. However, I miss Vermont like crazy already. I feel a little sad and worn out. I think I just need sleep. On the walk to the train tonight I couldn't help but kick myself for ever considering giving up my Vermont farm dreams to live in the South Bronx. It was never really much of an option, but it maybe could have been if I had pushed for it. I'm so glad I stuck with my original plan and went off to live in a greener place. No one can seem to wrap their heads around my not needing a car or tons of money out there. Maybe if they understood this amazing WWOOFer lifestyle of mine they'd all be running to farms too.

Friday, November 21, 2008

I don't know if you readers follow the news very much, but there are some amazing things happening in Washington right now. Aside from Mr. Obama and the amazingly progressive-looking team he's building, congress is stepping up as well. The democrats are taking congress by storm, and while I do not identify myself as a democrat, I do recognize that they have a better chance of making the world healthier than the republicans seem able to or interested to do. The House Energy Committee just booted it's chairman and replaced him with someone who auto-makers have called an "irrational environmental zealot." I like that idea. Change some policies Mr. Waxman, because what we have is not working.

I'm pretty sure it was American auto-makers who said that if they were required to put seat belts in all cars they would go bankrupt. That never happened. And if they survive until January for our new president to help them out, they will no longer be able to get away with the excessively carbon-emitting crap they have been manufacturing, which helped get them into this spot in the first place. But, I'm ranting now. Anyway, read this.

Let's talk about Vermont. Recently I've been having bad dreams. Or rather, dreaming of bad memories. I wake up feeling sad, but relieved that I'm here. I guess if all of those bad memories didn't exist, I wouldn't be here, but it stinks that it took all of that to get me moving on a path that feels like the right one for me. This is something I've always wanted to do, but had always been waiting for the right time to do. I guess after the shit finally hit the fan for my life in New York, I realized there was no "right time" and that if I wanted to be a happier person, I didn't need to wait for an invitation.

A few days ago I woke up obscenely early (as I tend to do here), and started writing down my ideas and plans for what I want to do with myself. A long-term plan. The absolute perfect farm situation for myself. It's the first time I ever tried to organize my thoughts and goals into something anyone could read and understand. In the past I've always just sort of alluded to this farm idea where I wanted to focus on animals. My parents especially would like to know exactly how I would make something like this work. The answer is that I don't know yet, but I am finally starting to figure it out. So, over the next few days I'm going to work a little more on this idea and then post it here for your reading pleasure. The more it takes shape, the more excited I am that this is want I want to do with my life. I never felt this certain about theatre. Three and a half year of college and I always had my doubts. This, however, I know I want.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Alex has been reorganizing the kitchen since I got here, because oh man, it was a bit of a mess. The kitchen looks so much better now, and is about a hundred times more functional. To finish it off and put in a little last Alex touch, he put a rock garden behind the kitchen sink.

Oliver thought it might be funny to mess with Alex a little so he started putting things in the rock garden in strange ways. He balanced a spoon on a rock, a small shovel, some food. Here's the latest and the one with the most effort:

And here's my favorite, The Zen Bagle:A collaboration between Oliver and Alex.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

It's snowing here and outside looks quite lovely. I'm sitting in front of a fireplace, so inside feels quite lovely. Alex is napping on the rug and everything is so cozy and quiet I thought I had better just give a little blog update. A little one.

Today Guv and I painted the new egg washing table that I built a few weeks ago. I put him in my over-sized painting shirt so he wouldn't get his clothes all messed up. I wish I had thought to get a picture of it, because the thing was huge on him and he got paint all in his hair. The table looks nice and white though. Tomorrow we are going to get colors and go crazy. That was Guv's idea and I love it. That should be a fun project and a nice addition of color to the egg station. It's important to support emerging artists, especially if they happen to be three years old.

Bought my train ticket today. It's official now: I'm heading back to NYC for a few days. This is probably a good thing anyway. My comp is being funky and could use a visit to the mac store doctors. My feet will also be warm for nine full days. Right now I'm lucky if they are ever warm for nine full minutes.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Two nights ago I got an email from the Bradford asking me to come back to NY for a week to work on the next Keen Company show. It was tempting because I don't have any money coming in up here and I still have those student loans to pay off. However, I'm a saver, not a spender, so I'm not struggling and I really don't want to leave. I especially don't want to be in NYC for Thanksgiving. But... the money is pretty decent for only a week of work, even after travel expenses, so I took it. I'm a sellout.

I am not happy to be leaving my cozy life here to go stress out on the subways of NY, but I'll deal. NY comes scarily natural to me, even though I'm the kind of person who would much rather lay in grass on a sunny day before collecting eggs from the chicken coop. What a crazy switch it is to go between the two, but nothing seems to faze me anyway. I tried to get The Logger to come with me so I could take a little piece of Vermont with me, but he was not having it. "I promised myself I would never go back to New York Shitty." That's the end of that I guess.

To finish this post off, here are some pictures Guv took with my camera on November 1st. It was a warm day and we went over to the meadow near the house. Here are the results:

Oliver and Nisi

Bonnie (I love this picture)

Guv's typically mismatched socks. What kid could resist taking one of his feet?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Remember the logger in Crocs? Well I've got another story about him. Oliver has been making super compost in the chicken coop by adding leaves and hay and anything compostable. We added a huge mound of leaves the other day and Oliver wanted to add a bunch of hay that had been sitting on a hay wagon rotting for a few weeks. The rot was not intentional. The hay was super wet, also not intentional, and super-annoying, because wet hay is practically impossible to move.

Logger-dude (whose name incidentally is John, which is not as fun) pulled the wagon to the front of the chicken coop with the tractor. The plan was to shove all of the hay out and then push it into the chicken coop with the tractor. Simple. No. The hay would not come out of the wagon. We stabbed at it with pitchforks for a while and made no headway. So Logger-man gets this crazy idea that cutting the hay into squares with a chainsaw will do the trick. The man must dream about chainsaws because I don't know if anyone else would ever think to cut hay with a chainsaw. Oliver liked the idea, and I encourage ridiculous ideas at all times, so he went and got the chainsaw.

So here's the deal readers, if you are ever faced with the problem of trying to move mounds of wet hay, just cut it with a chainsaw, because oh my god that crap works. It still took us another hour to get it all out of the wagon, but we at least felt like we were getting stuff done. I wish I had my camera and could have taken some pictures, because Mr. Chainsaw was still doing it in Crocs and Oliver had them on too. You're putting your feet in rotten hay guys.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

When I was in college I took a lot of Political Science classes. I took them because they were taught by the best teacher I have ever had. His name was Robert Jessen (and I imagine it still is). He changed the course of my entire life by changing my cynicism about the world to a real desire to make things better. He helped me see that the ultimate solution is not to watch the shit hit the fan and then say "I told you so." He taught me that just being educated is only the first step. He also introduced me to my hero Scott Nearing. Without him I probably would not be working on this farm now.

One of the classes I took focused on environmental politics. One of the books we read was Hope, Human and Wild by Bill McKibben. The book was incredibly interesting and offered some real hope that not all governments and people were incapable of dealing with the major issues that plague the world today.

Yesterday Bill McKibben spoke at Long Trail School in Dorset and I was able to go see it with the Teleion Holon crew. The talk was short and not really mind-blowing in any way, but I think it was important. What Mr. McKibben was trying to get at is that each of us as individuals can not single-handedly stop global climate change. What we do as individuals is important, but the time has come for the governments of the world to step in and really get things moving quickly and drastically. He believes that if the whole world were to become more aware and have a goal and standard that is easily understood, it will be easier to demand better policies from our governments. He is basically trying to spread the word one person at a time. So here is the website he is promoting, which I encourage people to check out. Education is the first step. By raising awareness to people everywhere world governments would have an impossible time continuing to ignore the issues and the much needed solutions.

So yes, maybe the shit really is hitting the fan right now, but it's not over yet. Things don't have to get worse. I think the world can recover from this. Nature has the most amazing ability to heal itself. If we can stop making the problem worse, then maybe over time things can get better. I'm not sure that Mr. McKibben was right when he said it was too late to fix what has already begun and that our only option is to stop it from getting worse. We were wrong about how long it would take to see the effects of global warming, I can only hope that Mr. McKibben is wrong about how well the Earth can heal. I don't consider myself an optimist, but I need some optimism on this situation. I don't know if people can function on such a large scale if they don't have a glimmer of hope to aim for.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Let's start with Obama. I am so glad we just elected a rock star of a president. I found out at 6am the next morning and I was as happy as a 6 year old on Christmas. What I am even happier about is that he did not just barely win, he took the polls by storm. This was not an election that left half of the country grumbling, it showed the world just how ready the American citizens are to start cleaning up this horrible mess that we've made. So way to go America. I was never ready to pack up and head to Canada, I was ready to stand by and defend the fact that not all of us are represented by the current government. I think we are finally working towards a government I'll be proud to call my own. I didn't want to hang out with a bunch of stinky Canadians anyway. My only regret is that I now know that my life dreams of burning a draft card will not be coming true. A small price to pay I suppose.

Moving on to the chickens. A little while before I got here a chicken was injured in the gate to its pen. We think it broke its neck. It was moved to the greenhouse to heal in peace. We did an OK job of making sure it had food and water and for a while it seemed to be getting better. This is the infamous chicken that I picked up last week. A few days ago its health started to decline again. I'm not sure what did it. It was walking for a while. It would sometimes fall over, but it was able to get up again. Not anymore. The poor thing was stuck on its side and rubbing all its feathers off and really it wasn't pretty. It was kind of hearth breaking. Yesterday I brought her some food and she couldn't really eat it on her own because she couldn't lift her head well enough. So picked her up again and held her up to eat.

This stupid and pathetic creature actually got me to love a bird, melted my heart over a chicken. It's not so far-fetched considering my love of animals, but it is a little odd when you take into account my irrational bird fear. Anyway this afternoon I went to bring her some brussel sprouts and I found that she had died. I also found that I was more bothered by it than I thought I should have been. What the hell kind of insensitive person am I if I'm sad over this doomed bird? I guess the fact that it was doing so well gave me hope and that hope lead to a slight attachment. This got me thinking about the rest of the chickens. I guess I kind of like them too. I mean I spend a lot of time feeding them and cleaning out their houses and collecting their eggs. I even went out of my way to clean their water buckets and I'm currently trying to make their houses nicer.

A while ago I started questioning my feelings about working on a farm that raised animals for food. When I first began my search I specifically did not want to work anywhere that had animals for food. I felt it would emotionally stressful for me and I didn't agree with the practices. However, the more I thought about it, read about it, and talked to others about it, I started thinking maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing ever. True, I think it would be better if people did not eat animals at all. However, if they are going to, I think they should buy from small local farms that take good care of the animals and make sure they are happy and healthy. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to work at a place like that. Maybe I would be able to do it because I would be able to see these animals living healthy lives.

After this whole chicken episode I have decided it doesn't work that way. I can't even tall most of these chickens apart and I would still be upset if they were to become food. When I saw this one injured chicken, who was so obviously not a happy chicken, still fighting to eat and keep living, I knew that no matter what the circumstances, it's really not OK with me to kill something that wants to live. Furthermore, if I can get attached to one nameless chicken and feel some fondness for 50 others which simultaneously annoy the crap out of me, then I'll never be able to work on a farm that kills their animals. There is just no way I would not get attached.

I think there is more to gain out of any animal than its monetary value and I think that is something worth standing by. So there you have it. My list of possible farms to work on just got much, much smaller. So be it, I can't change who I am and I don't want to.

Monday, November 3, 2008

To keep us all up to date, it looks like Oliver and Bonnie did not get that farm. They put in a bid, but someone else put in a higher one. However, Oliver went and met with some bankers during this process so that they could get to know him and perhaps give him a loan. The loved him and apparently want to support what he and Bonnie do. So even if they don't get this farm, they will probably be able to get a loan for another farm. I hope that this ends up being a good thing and allows them to find a farm that is closer to their price range.

To check in on myself I'd like to state that it feels good to come back to the same place every night. It's nice to know where I'll be sleeping a week from now. Even though it's not my place, or my home, it is stable and I like it and I have more privacy than I've had in years. It's nice to not be stressing about what happens next. I don't need to worry about it yet.

All of that, I can of course do without. I know it's just frilly stuff that I don't need. I have enjoyed roaming around for the past few months and planning my future trips. I have missed this calm and quiet though. Things in Dorset were quiet enough, but they were not so calm. I had friends there, but it still felt different. When I'm here, it's like all that other shallow crap that people in theatre worry about really doesn't matter. Here I feel like the problems are not just a way to pass the time. I don't really know how to explain it without annoying myself, so let me give an example.

I've been feeling a little sick the past few days. Last night I realized I had an another health issue, which required an actual doctor, which is probably why I got a cold that no one else has. My body is trying to fight two things at once. I mentioned this to my friend and he insisted we go out that night to Bennington to go to the hospital to get myself taken care of. I didn't realize it until we got there, but my friend is not the most comfortable person in hospitals. He went out of his way and put himself in an uncomfortable situation just to make sure I got better. If it had been up to me, I would have waited until the next day and been miserable, because I wouldn't have wanted to ask anyone to do any favors for me.

It's not that I don't have friends who would do this for me, it's just that all of my friends know me too well to argue with me about it and insist that I change my mind. This friend doesn't know that I hate being taken care of, not because I don't need it, but because I don't want to feel like I need it. I'm glad he doesn't know this, because it feels nice to have a friend worry about me. I've never let anyone do that before. And we won't even start on how nervous he gets when I start using power tools. Ha.

I shall end this post by changing the subject suddenly and drastically and say that the only thing AZ has over the rest of the country is that they don't bother changing the time for daylight savings. There. I stated a preference for Arizona. Remember it, because it won't happen again. Until I wake up an hour early tomorrow morning.

Also:DON'T FORGET TO VOTE! Unless you plan on voting for McCain, in which case please reconsider not forgetting to vote, sleeping all day might sound like such a good idea to you. KIDDING!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Today I watched a man cut up a huge oak tree with a chainsaw in Crocs. Crocs!!! When will this madness end? Who the hell leaves the house in these things, let alone wields a chainsaw while wearing them?!!? I'm over this whole Croc thing. What I'm not over is watching him get his chainsaw unstuck from a tree by driving into it with a tractor and also seeing the huge piles of sawdust that end up in his pockets. The things I find funny can only be explained in my head, to me.

Other than that it's been rainy and slow today. I get the feeling Alex does not like it when I sit in the kitchen not contributing while he takes everything apart and organizes the whole damn space. But judging from what happened with the dishes last night, I don't really think it's a good idea for me step in and try to help him. Last night as I started to wash the dishes he told me it was "inefficient" and started filling up the sink with water for me. I told him maybe he should wash the dishes and I would rinse. At moments like these I remind myself of my mother. Why get upset about it? It's not like I was super excited to wash the dishes. I'm happy to let him do it if his way is so much better. So thanks mom, for the patient and passive attitude you passed on to me.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Oh dear, I've been a bad blogger. I've been a little busy for the past few days. I've made some new friends that I like more than the internet, if that's possible, so the posting has been a bit slow. I started to write something about the cold the other day, but never posted it, because really I'll have all winter to discuss that.

So here's what's been happening recently:Oliver and Bonnie have been looking to move to a new farm. Where they are now is four acres, spread out on four different properties, none of which they own. Oliver's father owns them all. He's not a tyrant of a landlord, or anything close to it, but farming this way is not efficient and it also doesn't offer them the chance to feel independent or very self-sufficient.

The farm they have been looking at is in Pawlet, about 15 or 20 minutes from here. It's so much bigger than where they are now. Just one of the fields is over twice the size of what they have now. A river goes through part of the property and much of the land is also an entire hillside. There are several barns, a sugar house, and an old farmhouse. All of the buildings would need work and all of the fields used to be used for nothing but corn, so they need quite a bit of work as well. Oliver thinks he can do it. What he's not sure about is raising the money. It's not a cheap farm by any means, but it is a wonderful one, and it's the kind of place they've been looking for.

I went to see the property twice with Oliver. I understand why he's so in love with it. For someone as dedicated to farming and CSAs, it's a perfect farm for him. It's still close to this location, so they can keep their current CSA members, and be close to family. The hillsides are beautiful and Oliver says the soil is amazing. However, it's a lot of work. It would take up all of Oliver's time, which is worrisome because of the baby Bonnie is about to have. This is more than just risking money, it's a risk to his family as well.

In the end, the risks have been assessed. Bonnie is aware that if they get the farm Oliver will not be so available, but she is just as eager to move as he is. Oliver knows that if he doesn't get together enough CSA support he won't be able to afford the mortgage payments. I think they also know that no matter what happens, the people around them will do their best to support and help them, even if they think buying this farm is a bad idea. As for my own opinions, I am undecided. I love this farm. If it were me, I think I would be going just as crazy as Oliver is right now. What a perfect opportunity, at a less than perfect time. Who knows if something like this would come up again? Who knows what this particular farm could do for the lives of everyone involved? The biggest problem with these things is that you can not spend a year thinking about it. You can't try it out and then take it all back if it doesn't work. You have to dive in head first, and that's the scariest part of all. What happens if the farm fails? And is the possible success of the farm, worth risking failure?

Saturday, October 18, 2008

One of the things I have not mentioned much yet is the Wilburton Inn. The inn is owned by Oliver's parents, Georgette and Albert. They occasionally need extra help on busy days and on Saturdays the WWOOFers have the option of going over there to work for some money. I have been roped into doing this for the past two Saturdays (of course roped actually means I was asked nicely, and had no reason to say no). Last week it was buffet breakfast, this week it was a bus lunch. For both meals there was a sense of panic over being shorthanded, but both meals seemed rather easy and calm to me, so I wasn't unhappy doing it.

Today was a bus lunch, which according to Oliver is Bagels Under Salad (B.U.S. Lunch, har har Oliver). It's actually a group of people who come in on a bus for lunch (too obvious I guess). I tried to find out where these people came from and why they were there eating these weird limited menus of chicken or beef?, water or coffee?, apple crisp dessert!, but no one I asked could or would tell me much about it. But I didn't spend a bunch of time asking, everyone always seems so busy that I didn't want to cause any kind of brain aneurysms by suggesting that they stop thinking about how best to freak out for a second.

These people were a bunch of senior citizens. They were a bit grumpy and worried at first, as people tend to be before eating. Wives were ordering for husbands, which always makes me giggle a bit. People changed their orders, which isn't actually as big a deal as the group leader seemed to think it was when she started dictating what they had said they wanted a few days or weeks (who knows, maybe even hours) earlier. Then the food was slopped onto plates in an attempted graceful manor. The chef made us wipe off the splatter from the side of the plates, but it was all such mush it squashed together on the plates on the way out. These people did not seem to care in the least. The scarfed down food happily, occasionally asking for more bread or coffee. Easy as anything. Plus the old men got to give me a hard time, which old men love doing for whatever reason. Yes sir, I am, in fact, nothing but a young whippersnapper and your wisdom is infinite, are you done with your precooked pot roast and vegetable mush so I can take your plate? Great.

By the time they left everyone was cheery and happy and full of food. They took a bunch of pictures, the chef came out and they clapped, I helped clear the tables and reset them for a dinner at 7pm. Easy. I was there for about two hours and people were only there eating for one hour. Why everyone at the inn panics at all times for all events, I'm not really clear. This dinner could not have gone any more smoothly or been any easier, yet the chef and the coordinator were rushing around the whole time as if people were standing at the kitchen door raising hell. If they were it would have made the whole thing infinitely more interesting. Nothing's funnier than old men with pitchforks yelling about cold pot roast.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Yesterday was an apple picking day. We've got a few people coming to the house for the weekend to take part in a yoga retreat and the person who runs it asked that we have fruit available. The most abundant fruit we have right now are apples. We drove the truck over to the Big White House, where the apple trees grow, and spent a few hours picking apples. Alex hopped on top of the truck while Jos collected the ones that fell to the ground. I climbed into a few of the trees to reach some of the higher apples. Finally a reason to climb on the job. I've been missing that.

After we had picked an insane amount of apples, we hung around on the grass. Max and Sarah began to do some two-person yoga, which prompted Alex to start throwing apples at them from the top of the truck.

This then turned into an apple fight and I can not be blamed for the crack in the windshield of the truck because Alex started the whole thing. Just kidding.

I ate so many apples I got a stomach ache. WELL WORTH IT!

A few days before this apple escapade, Oliver asked Alex to build a sweat lodge for a little party that was planned. No one had ever built one before, but Alex had spent some time in one, so he was put in charge. It actually worked really well. A fire pit was made outside of the sweat lodge and we spent all day heating rocks in the fire and by the time we climbed in there, just having the rock in the lodge made it warm. I highly recommend that anyone with the space, should hurry up and make themselves a sweat lodge. It was the perfect way to end a busy few days. Oliver has been feeling rather stressed so I know it was nice for him to relax. Theo attempted to lead a Vision Quest, but that idea didn't really take off. I think we were all just happy to sit quietly and enjoy the heat.

We spent at least two hours in there. When I finally got out I felt so refreshed and clean. Oliver, Sarah, and Max jumped into the creek and then rushed back into the sweat lodge, which sounded like a great idea while we were in there talking about it, but quickly turned into a terrible idea as soon as I crawled out. The evening air was cold enough I think. It would probably have been the perfect time to take a quick shower with my skin being so open and amazing, but I pretty much just went inside and fell asleep. Mer.

The whole thing kind of reminded me of one of those typical College of Santa Fe gatherings, where some people couldn't wait to take off their clothes, and others were more inclined to stay fully clothed, while several people were somewhere in between, but the whole thing never became an issue. Those kinds of things are always the most comfortable. It kind of gives you an idea of the mix of people here. Maybe we're all idealists who want to grow organic food and sell it locally, but the idea of pushing everyone into the "Dirty Hippie" category really doesn't work. I'd like to really push this point towards my friends in New York.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

It's been a pretty wonderful time here in Vermont so far. The weather is unreasonably nice. I feel like everyone is just waiting for the weather to get stupid-cold. Today when we went out to harvest for the CSA pickup I had to take off my hoodie because it was so warm. And then we stopped and got pumpkin ice cream and cider donuts from the nursery across the street from the greenhouses. Can I just state for the record, one more time, that I LOVE VERMONT. I know it will get colder, much, much colder, but I think I will find my own way of loving that as well.

So what have I been doing? Well I've been picking up buckets of unused food from local resuants to feed to the chickens. I've been harvesting tomatoes, beets, radishes, salad greens, and cabbage. I've been planting garlic. I've been feeding and cleaning up after chickens. I've been picking up Oliver's junk from a tag sale and onions from another farm to give to our own CSA. I've been walking through the woods. I've been celebrating Jewish holidays. I've been hanging out with children. I've been making a few new friends. I've been learning how to play two chords on a guitar (don't ask me which, I'm really not sure I remember them now). I've been driving that crazy Organic Food truck that was made famous to DTF when it crashed into two cars in under a minute. I've been coming to town to use the internet because it's slow at the house. I've been having a pretty great time.

I took a bunch of pictures, some of which I will post when I have them uploaded. I haven't really had a ton of time to do this, because generally when we aren't out working, we find other ways to occupy our time that do not involve the internet (crazy, right?). We cook and eat communally. I love it. Sadly, two of the WWOOFers are leaving this weekend, so it will be much quieter around here. Maybe I'll get better about posting and putting up pictures with all this extra time. Maybe.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

A few days ago, I was nothing but nerves. I was so worried that I had made the wrong choice to leave New York, yet again, after having some promise of work and a solid foundation of friendship. Now that I am here in Manchester, working with these wonderful people, I can't think of why I would have passed up this opportunity just to stay in New York, with the same unfulfilling life I was leading.

The family that runs this place is wonderful. I just got here and I already love them so much. Bonnie and Oliver run the farm. They are good-natured people who care so much about what they do. Their two children Guvra, who is 3, and Talula, who is 1, are two of the most lovable children I've ever met. Guvra is so smart, it's hard to believe he is only 3. You can tell they are not city kids, in that they don't have that automatic distrust of strangers that city children have. The first day I was here Guv informed me that he hoped that I didn't like to work outside so that he would have someone to play with. He then handed me an Obama button. He loves Obama. Talula is just a regular trouble maker. She likes to get into everything and has broken something glass every day that I've been here. Oliver's brother is Max. He's 23, but until today I had him pegged at 26 or 27 (must be the beard). He and Oliver are so close, it makes me a little jealous because I can't get along with my own brother so well.

The food here is beyond yummy. I love going out to harvest, because it means getting the freshest food imaginable. I picked tomatoes the other day and was encouraged to taste them in order to check that they were ripe. I almost didn't get any into the basket they were so good. Today it was arugula, mustard leaves and raspberries. I had never had a mustard leaf before. Better to just chew on it bit by bit then take a big bite. Pretty spicy for something that looks like any other green salad leaf. I also harvested some radishes and they made my hands itchy, which was odd. I'm not allergic to eating radishes, but I apparently have a reaction to harvesting them, which I'm going to ignore.

Chickens! Chickens are not smart at all! I spent some time cleaning out their nests today (ugh), and spend some time everyday putting them back into the pen. They do make yummy eggs though and they are the perfect way to put food waste to good use. Twice a week we go out and pick up food waste from some restaurants around town and then feed it all to the chickens. Hungry little beasts. I like them though, because they do not fly. I will not, however, go so far as to pick them up as Alex does. At least not yet anyway.

I will post more about other WWOOFers and farm friends later. Too tired now. And I don't want to overdo the posting here.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Amazingly, my ghetto-rigged, duct taped, super glued suitcase made it to Manchester without being much of a hassle. Remind me to never ever buy another article of clothing because I can not drag a heavy suitcase anywhere again in my life.

The bus I was supposed to get on at 10:45 didn't actually exist and the schedule I had was apparently an old one. I called over to the farm and they said they would send someone to pick me up. The people who came to get me were pretty awesome and we ended up eating lunch at Back Home Again before heading out. This gave me a chance to find out more about the situation here at the farm.

Listen, at this point, if they want me to leave this place, they'll have to drag me out. I get my own spacious room, with a window, and my own bathroom. The room even has two beds, so I can have visitors if I want. How is this possible?!!?

The far half of the room

The half I sleep in

The bathroom. Which is mine. All mine. Wow. Last time I had my own bathroom? 3 years ago for 4 months.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Last night when I got off the train I asked someone in the parking lot where Centre St. was and I must have misunderstood him, because I walked along the street, lugging my suitcase and never saw the place. When I got to a corner I realized I was not on Centre St. I called Back Home Again and explained where I was and that my suitcase had broken, so the person I spoke to came out to meet me. He grabbed my suitcase and I followed him back towards where I had come from. I can not remember his name now, but he was perfectly nice. I was terribly grateful to him for helping me with the suitcase. It was a two minute walk from where I was standing, but it would have taken me at least 15 to lug the suitcase there.

I promptly went to the Walmart and purchased superglue and duct tape for the suitcase.

I headed to the cafe, which is next to the hostel, and sat down to eat some homemade pizza. When I asked which pizza did not have meat on it the three people at the table looked at me with a mixture of awe and pity. I've gotten used to this by now and I laughed it off as I took a slice of the yummy veggie pizza.

I struck up a conversation with the men at the table and told them I had come from New York. They all expressed that they liked it there, but could not live there. One of them had tried and left after six months. He also lived in Tucson, Truth or Consequences, and about a thousand other places. We talked a little about Tucson and New York. All of them were very friendly and smiley.

The oddest thing about these people were that when I was introduced to any woman, I always smiled, but they never smiled back. I only got into conversation with one of them the whole evening and she was perfectly pleasant, but she seemed almost worn down. It was the end of the day, so I really shouldn't think much of it. I'm sure they get people in and out daily, so they don't invest a ton of emotional energy in them.

After dinner I moped the floors and then headed to bed. I really don't think I did much, so I was planning to come back down and offer more help for the morning, but no one is around yet. I walked to the bus station and got schedule. My bus doesn't leave for another hour or so, so I figured I'd grab some chai and give an update. Also, the room I stayed in smells super funky right now and I can't stand to be in there. It is a small, windowless room with three bunk beds and a bathroom. The bathroom doors have all been taken down which is kind of odd, but you can't see the toilet from the bedroom, so it wasn't a huge deal. The other women in the room did not seem at all interested in talking to me, so I fixed my suitcase in silence and climbed into a top bunk for a restless evening.

A view of the front of the place. The door on the left is the shop, the right is the cafe, and the middle leads to the hostel.

The bunk I slept in. It was missing it's ladder, so they had that small wooden guy in place of it.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

I'm currently sitting on the train to Rutland, VT. The train is scheduled to get in around 9PM, but I don't have high hopes for that. I'll probably get in closer to 11. I'll be staying at this crazy place called Back Home Again. It's a community of people who live by some kind of religious practice. I'm not completely clear on what it is, but from what I gather it seems like some kind of Hippies for Jesus community. They run a cafe and a hostel, which I can stay at for free, for an exchange of two hours of work. If I don't want to work, I can give them $20. If I have time, I'll definitely work. Not only because I'd like to save money, but because I'd love to learn more about these people and how they live. All of my friends from DTF call them a cult. Who knows, maybe they are, but as long as they aren't crazy-freaky-animal sacrificy, I don't really care what they are.

Tomorrow I'm taking public transportation to Manchester, where the people from the farm should be able to pick me up. I haven't confirmed it all completely because I'm not sure what time the bus gets in and where and if I can walk to it easily in Rutland. I hope so. But I'll call the farm later today and see what the deal is.

I stared my day off so well. I woke up a little earlier than my alarm, took a shower, did my laundry, successfully packed all of my shit and had some toast for breakfast. I planned to get into Manhattan by 2 to pick up my check from Keen Company, for the work I did on The Fourposter (Shameless Plug- Go see it, I love it, it's wonderful). I didn't end up leaving The Bronx until 1:45 though, so of course I got in later than I wanted and ended up running around like a crazy person. Had to get to the bank, planned to go to the post office, and I had to pick up my train ticket and print out my absentee ballot application. I didn't make it to the post office. I barely made it to the train. Iggy met up with me and helped me get my bags to the train. Then when I got on the train, all frazzled, I was lifting my bag to put it away, but I missed slightly and hit a bar and broke one of the wheels clean off the bag. ARG! The stupid thing is heavy and I don't know how far I can carry it with my other bag as well. I'm so annoyed at myself for this. I had my bags all nice and arranged so everything was super easy to deal with and then I had to go and break the wheel. Typical.

On a different subject altogether, I finally purchased a camera, as I stated in an earlier post, and here is the first round of pictures. We went out after the first preview last night and I got a pretty amazing picture of all 8 of us. How we all managed to cram in that close and I managed to get an accurate shot, I will never know. The picture is priceless. I'm going to miss these wonderful people so much, but I hope to find new wonderful people on my journeys. Here goes.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

I bought a camera today! Yay me! It'll be here in about 2 days, then I have to learn how to use the damn thing, and then I'll post some pictures. I think the last time I owned a camera I was still in junior high.

Also, Kevin got a little obsessed with me writing about "The crazy bitches" in this house. So there you have it. My friends are crazy. And bitches. But I love them and this ghetto house.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

You know how you always see all those photographs and post cards of the sun coming into Grand Central in the morning, and it looks pretty fantastic? This morning I had a chance to hang out in Grand Central while the sun came up. It doesn't really look like that, but it's nice to just sit on the edges and watch the place fill up with the morning commuters. Maybe it would look like that at the right time of day, if the lights weren't so bright in here. I always thought those pictures were sunrise though because the station is always empty for them. At sunset the station would be packed. But... it's just a photograph, so who knows if it is set up and orchestrated some how. Still, this is such a beautiful building. I never noticed the zodiac signs on the ceiling. Never bothered to look up. Never had an hour to kill so early in the morning.

I've got to head back up to the Bronx, but no one will be up until 8am. My bus got in at 6:30am. I thought it was supposed to go to Penn Station, but it only stopped in Chinatown. Lame. I do not know that area and I had to ask about a thousand people where the train was before I could find it. The trouble with not knowing your way in Chinatown is that no one there speaks enough english to tell you anything.

I'll be so happy to finally put my bags down and sleep in a horizontal position. People should not have to sleep on crowded busses. At least I slept through the whole tunnel. I am not at all a fan of driving through the tunnels. I'll go out of my way to take a bridge. Driving through a long tunnel like that just doesn't seem safe to me. For some reason I have no issues with the train going underwater to leave Manhattan, but I can't deal with a car doing it. Or, more accurately, hundreds of cars all at once. I'd much rather not do it. Like taking an elevator for less than 4 floors; I'd rather take the stairs, because elevators seem like a bad idea. It's rather odd, because I certainly consider myself a risk taker. I have no issues doing something unsafe 50 feet above the stage floor, rock climbing, caving, or running into traffic, but drive through a tunnel when I don't have to? No thanks. What an enigma.

Friday, September 26, 2008

When I took the bus down to South Carolina on Monday the craziness of the whole ordeal got me talking to some of the passengers. I sat next to a woman named Robin. She was on her way back to Atlanta from Maine, where she had just buried her mother. She was an older woman, but she had no home and was staying with her son. She used to have a husband and a steady job, but she divorced him a few years ago, and then was laid off. Suffice to say, she had seen better times. I told her about what I was doing and the farm job I had lined up. She said she had been thinking of doing something like that, but she didn't know where to look. I gave her the WWOOF website and told her that it was worth the $20. She seemed excited and I hope she uses it. Who knows, maybe I'll bump into her again. I'm a little annoyed with myself for not getting her email address.

I am now back on a Greyhound bus. I'm heading back to Richmond to see Cory for a second and then leave for NY on a Chinatown bus at 1am. This Greyhound experience has been a lot like the last one, in that it sucks. The bus took off thirty minutes late, but this was understandable because the weather was pretty bad. We were running about an hour behind when the bus suddenly turned around 60 miles north of our last stop, Greensboro, NC. One of the passengers had gone up to the front of the bus, talked to the driver, and without explanation, the bus turned around. Finally one of the other passengers asked what the hell was going on. The driver told us he was going back to Greensboro to drop off that passenger that he had been talking to, and then we would turn back and drive straight to Richmond without making any stops. He expected we would get there on time, which should have been 5:20pm.

When we got back to Greensboro he dropped that passenger off at a rental truck place, not the bus stop. If I had known this bus was actually a cab maybe I would have asked to be taken to the Bronx instead. Lame. I have no idea why that guy did not get off the bus the first time we were in Greensboro, or what he said to the driver that made him turn around and drive back an hour and drop someone off at a place that was not even a real bus stop. It is now 5:50 and it has started raining again. We're not in Richmond. We're not even in VA yet.

The one good thing that has happened because of all this is that suddenly everyone on the bus is chatting with one another. The three people in front of me were talking about conspiracy theories for hours and have just changed to relationship advice. The people in the back of the bus are playing music. This young dude in a leather jacket walked up to me while at a rest stop and said something I could not understand. I asked him to repeat it and I still couldn't understand it. I was worried that it was his accent and I really didn't want to be a jerk about it. I told him that I was sorry, but I could not understand him. He said "Oh, I'm sorry, you don't speak Russian? I thought you did." I laughed it off. Now I would like to know what it was that he said, but he is several rows in front of me, talking to the elderly southern woman next to him. Maybe he's getting off in Richmond and I'll have time to ask him about it while I wait for Cory.

I wonder what made him think I spoke Russian? I know people often try to place my heritage, but no one has ever assumed I spoke another language based solely on what I look like. Interesting.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Aaaaaand I'm in Greenville. Well no, I'm in Simpsonville, a little urban sprawl town right outside it. Oh suburbs, I'll never be comfortable here.

There is really nothing around here but houses. I went for a walk yesterday, just to see what it was like around here. Houses. A school. More houses. No bus, no store, not even a sidewalk. Lots of trees, but no trails. Private, private property. I didn't wander about too much, don't want to get shot at by any gun-toting ex-yankees in houses so big they don't know what to do with them. Giant houses on little plots all set right up on the road.

I called my cousin and he came and picked me up. He lives about 45 minutes from my grandmothers, so I was very grateful. There's not much to do in Greenville, but at least there are things to look at. We walked around the downtown area. Got gelato. I'm boring myself here and I wish I had something amazing to report, but I don't. I'm not sure why anyone would want to live here. There's not much culture or history. Well, maybe there used to be, but it appears that all the old buildings have been torn down to make way for shopping centers and fake waterfalls.

The day ended with a rousing game of Parchisi. I almost won, BUT MY UNCLE CHEATED. That's not true, he's not a cheater, I just stink at Parchisi. Picking up my mother today. She'll school everyone at that game. Oh. Statements like that one are what make SC so boring. I'm going to go out now and spray paint "Barock the Vote" in the streets, that should rouse things up a bit.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Backstory: I have been planning to go down to SC to visit my grandmother in her new home and surprise her. My mother planned to fly out and meet me so we could surprise her together. The plan was, I would take a Greyhound into Charlotte and she would fly. I would get there a few hours before her and take public transportation to the airport so that we could be picked up together and I wouldn't have to hang out in a greyhound station.

Wow. Wow. Oh my ridiculous travels. I'm in day two of my bus trip down to SC and oh my God how did this happen!?!? Yesterday I called my mother to check in and see what time we were getting picked up by my uncle, and I find out that I had the whole trip planned around the wrong day. My mother is not coming in until Wednesday which means I didn't have anyone to pick me up from Charlotte until then. I frantically called my uncle and then purchased another bus ticket that would take me from Charlotte (about 2 hours from their place) to Greenville (about 15 minutes from their place). The ticket didn't cost much, so it wasn't a huge deal, but it's a good thing the bus goes there at least. I finally spoke to my uncle and he'll be able to pick me up. *phew*

Right, don't sigh in relief quite so fast Krysta, you know how your luck runs. I would say that part of the reason I'm such a resourceful person is because of all the crazy shit that always seems to happen in my life. As soon as I think a situation is fixed, something stupid almost always happens to make it worse.

So what happened? Well, the bus showed up an hour late to Greyhound because it had broken down. It didn't leave for another hour after that. The driver, who I think might be a bit crazy, spent a great deal of time yelling at passengers for no apparent reason. Then, as I thought we might be making up some time, he got lost. One of the passengers managed to give him directions, and we are now running two and a half hours late. AWESOME!

But wait, it gets better! My connecting bus leaves at 3:30, we were supposed to be in at 2:30. Not going to make it now though. The ticketing woman told me that the bus I am on is the one that goes to Greenville, and it has the same route number. If that is the case, then I should have nothing to worry about. However (and there's always a however), the bus driver told me that this bus is not going to Greenville. So who knows! Not me! Maybe there's another bus leaving to Greenville a little later, but at this rate we might not get into Charlotte until next week.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Today was my first trip ever to Coney Island. I'm not sure how it is possible that I grew up in NY and I never came here, but I think it has something to do with my parents not loving me enough. Wow. I love it!! I'm so sad that they are ripping it all down! People talk about how run down and gross it is, but it's not really. It's just not updated like the rest of this city. But why would anyone want to update a place like this? I feel like it's classic. There are old arcade games, old rides, old boardwalks, old people... wait, no actually, it was mostly young people.

I guess I'm a little obsessed with the way things used to be in NY before a bunch of mayors came in and insisted on making everything so commercial. I like the older stuff. I would not have minded walking into Times Square and seeing a smut theatre where Mary Poppins now stands. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to put my values in theatre below smut, but as far as theatre goes, Mary Poppins is not it, and I'm not sure that Disney should even own any Broadway houses.

The wonderful thing about Coney Island is that it's a bunch of independent people who have set up shop there and run their own things. It's not just one big Astroland, it's a bunch of little parks with a handful of rides, and Astroland is one of them. Then there are a bunch of carnival games and arcades. One of those games is Shoot the Freak. Oh my god! How genius is a guy in padding running around while being shot by idiots with a paint ball gun and a $20 bill? Sadly, no one was playing while I was there, so I didn't get to see the action.

I did however, throw 25 cents into a fortune telling machine and got my fortune for the month of November. I'm pretty sure these things would be 50 cents anywhere else, so how could I pass up that kind of deal? The fortune was of course complete crap, but who buys those things for anything other than novelty?

Sadly The Cyclone was closed and I was not able to go on it. But it's a registered historical mark, so it won't be torn down with the rest of Coney Island. I hope it keeps running so I can eventually go on it. I love coasters, how have I never been on the world's most famous one, which was so close to my childhood home? You better believe I'm going to call my parents and accuse them of nothing short of child abuse by never taking me here.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Are you aware that the Guggenheim has pay-what-you-wish Friday Nights? I was not! How awesome is that? I went down there with Ceora to see the exhibit: Louise Bourgeois. I had never heard of this woman, but her work is amazing. She's been producing art for almost a century and the Guggenheim had her work set out in chronological order around the spiral.

Ceora and I started from the top, the most recent, because the place was so crowded at the bottom. I would also rather start from the most current and work backwards when it comes to art because it seems so much more logical to me. You can get a sense of how the artist expresses herself now and then see what lead up to it. It just works out better in my head.

Well this woman is amazing. I you happen to be in NY, you should probably make a point of checking her out. It's sculptural, and sexual, and textural and you can tell she has an amazing sense of humor. The whole I was there I was picturing her making these pieces and chuckling to herself. They're incredibly powerful. I couldn't get over how heavy and grounded each piece looked, but they all also had a feeling of being so delicate and quiet.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

I went back to the Metropolitan to see the Goya paintings. Love them, love them, love them! They have more now than they had last time and they took that silly bowl of fruit painting out of the room, which was not a Goya and really didn't go with what was in there. Now it's only Goya in that gallery. I only wish I could see his black paintings and the Third of May again. Someday.

While I was in there, staring, drooling, beside myself, some guy walked up and took a picture of these cats that are in the bottom corner of one of Goya's portraits. Odd. No idea what that was all about, but the guard in that room and I had a silent giggle exchange. After about a million years in the room, I finally left. Don't worry Goya, I'll be back again!

Last night I got into a conversation with someone about how I had never been to Wall St, or seen that damn stock market bull sculpture. She told me that I really needed to get on that, because how could I say I was a native New Yorker, if I had never taken the time to see my own city? Well it's true, but I've never had the time. I do now that I'm not working at the moment. So off to Wall Street with me, with a trip to Battery Park, because I love that park. The southern tip on Manhattan has always been a favorite spot of mine. I love how much history is down there.

Of course the Wall St. area was full of news vans. That area is hurting right now and the media is all over it. I didn't actually see anyone reporting, and other than hoards of people walking around, the area was uneventful. I do love the historic buildings and streets though. I wandered around for a while because I didn't know exactly where the bull was. Finally found it. It's bigger than I thought. And there were tourists taking pictures grabbing its balls. Hm. Figures.

After that I saw a few more memorials in Battery Park and went over to the world trade center. Not much to say. I have a hard time with the juxtaposition of tower wreckage and all the people rushing about like nothing happened. But what could I expect? People still have jobs, they still need to get from point A to point B and that's the nature of NY. It's been 7 years. No one has forgotten, but people get back into the swing of things. I guess if I was down there everyday I would too. But I'm not, so it's still a bit tricky for me.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I spent five hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. Wow. I didn't even get to see everything I wanted to see, so I need to pop back in tomorrow for a bit. I've never been able to see a great deal of what's in there because I never get to go alone and see it all at my own pace. I've been there many, many times, but always with other people, most whom don't want to spend an hour in the arms and armor section. Clearly these people do not know what is good for them.

The day started in true Krysta style. I had a bag of plantain chips in my bag as a snack for later, and a glass Snapple bottle that I use for water. The security guards at the front doors told me that I would have to finish my food outside and I could not bring glass into the museum. Not even if I planned to dump my bag into the bag check. I didn't want to eat my food then, or throw away my water bottle, so I put the food in the front pocket, which no one ever checks (a good thing, considering I usually have my knife in there), and then tried my luck with another security guard. Some people are just hard asses, and I was not about to throw away my food just because one security guard told me to. I picked one that was right in front of the bag check and he let me in without any problems, but told me to check my bag. Logic? What?

In my five hours there I began to have a dilemma. First of all, I'm not so sure it's a good idea to keep works of art all crammed together in a museum. Its hard to appreciate each work as unique when it's right next to another amazing and equally distracting piece of art. I also don't think it reaches as many people of different backgrounds as it should. How many blue collar New Yorkers ever go to the Met? Does a political painting mean the same thing when taken out of its home country? I think maybe part of seeing the work is seeing the place it was painted in and for. Art in context, what a crazy idea!

Don't get me wrong, I love being able to see so many of my favorite pieces of art in one place. I just wonder if the work would have a different affect on me if i was to see it elsewhere. I love seeing Calder and Koons sculptures as I walk around the city. They were made to be put there, so it works somehow. It's an amazing thing to turn a corner and discover a work of art you did not know was there. I think art has changed since museums became such a big deal. I wonder if pop art would have been the same without museums.

My other major issue with museums is the display of burial art. I am quite certain that the people in ancient cultures who spent their lives preparing for death never wanted their urn, sarcophagus, mummy, commissioned art whatever on display in a New York museum. I'm not really comfortable with the idea of someone's remains being made into art without their permission. I struggle with this though, because I understand the need for preservation. If everything was kept buried, some ass would eventually dig it up and exploit it in some way. I also think it's creepy how much value people put into a dead body. The idea that Alexander the Great may have actually had his body entombed in honey to preserve it, is just crazy to me. Nevertheless, I think it is important to honor the wishes of the dead, and I don't think the art world is super concerned with that.

All of the above being said, I had a wonderful and dizzying day of art. I got kicked out of the museum for closing right as I was walking into the Goya room. Curses! Save the best for last, and end up staying past closing time. Goya, I would go to Spain for you, so I guess I can just come back tomorrow. Save Spain for another day. Not sure I'd be able to hitchhike over the ocean anyway.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

One of the things I checked out in DC was the Vietnam Memorial Wall. I've been a little obsessed with this wall since college because I think it is an amazing design. The designer, Maya Ying Lin won an anonymous contest with her idea, while she was still in grad school, and fought to defend her design for years. Many veterans saw it as morbid, or a sign of shame, because it was black.

Being there in person, I never got that feeling. It's quite amazing. You can tell the wall was made for the living, in order to honor the dead because it is such an interactive experience. Seeing myself reflected behind the names, and being able to touch them, changes the idea of the traditional memorial. In most cases, you can not touch a piece of art, but this memorial encourages the visitor to do so.

I admit that I am a bit fixated on memorials in general. I'm not quite sure why I find them so powerful. I know that is what they are supposed to do, but I don't know anyone who ever had cause to be given a memorial. I don't know any of the names on the Vietnam Wall. I don't know anyone who died in the Korean War (another amazing memorial in DC), I don't even know anyone who died in the current war. That doesn't change the fact that these memorials affect me. Perhaps because I value life so much, seeing all those names up there, it didn't matter that I was never connected to anyone up there, it's still such a horrible waste of life. These memorials should serve as a reminder that there is a high price to war and we are still paying it, even as we fight this new one. But I guess the president doesn't make many trips out to his own front lawn to remember any of this.

Monday, September 15, 2008

This trip to Washington DC has been interesting. It's my second time in this city but I still have no idea where I'm going. However, I got to see the two things I really wanted to see and I managed to find a new artist to drool over.

I went there to visit my friend Nick, who you may remember as the person who drove me out to Vermont. He came to visit once over the summer and somehow ended up leaving with my Ace Hardware shirt (AKA the most awesome shirt IN THE WORLD and I know he stole it on purpose because he wishes he could wear it). Of course I had to get it back, and because he refused to send it to me, I had to go down there and get it. Not such a bad idea for someone looking for any excuse to bum around.

The weekend started off by waking up late. I'm not much of a sleeping in kind of person, but I enjoyed a slow morning. The only down side being that Nick does not keep food in his house, and I like to eat breakfast. Men. So we went out and had tapas for lunch. Yummy yummy tapas. With goat cheese. How could I decline goat cheese? Nick will disagree with me here, but tomato and watermelon is a yummy combination. When ordering at a new place, I find it's always best to trust the chef and not make substitutions except in the case of dietary needs. I am never disappointed. They wouldn't put it on the menu if it wasn't yummy.

We then rolled on over to the portrait Gallery. I'm not really into portraits of people who are long dead and I've never heard of, but they had some other cool stuff there as well. There was an artist who does Hip-Hip portraits, which were amazing. And what you will need to do is check out Kehinde Wiley right away. The other person That needs checking out is Nam June Paik who I mistook for Bruce Nauman (who I am madly in love with) at first. I love this guy! How amazing is a florescent map of the USA filled with TVs, each with different movies and images that represent the states?!?!? AH!

We headed over to The Kennedy Center after that for their annual open house. We caught a step show, put on by Step Afrika! the worlds only professional dance group dedicated to step. In all honesty I was not that interested in seeing this show, but once it started it was pretty cool. There were a bunch of college groups performing, and one of them was amazing. I guess when it comes down to it, I'm a sucker for a good show, no matter what's on the stage and these guys were great. I probably wouldn't turn down another free step show if given the chance.

After the step show we went outside to see Chuck Brown, DC's Godfather of Go-Go. It was pretty fun. I love watching old white guys (or just Nick)dance to hip-hop. It made me miss my friends from DTF. They would have rocked out all too happily.

Sunday was a great day. Another late start, but I was able to check two things from my list of "Things to See Before I'm Too Old to Care." One being the National Museum of the American Indian. This isn't normally the kind of thing I would go out of my way to see. I'm interested in various cultures and religions, but not enough to make a special trip.

The reason I wanted to see this place so badly was because of the architecture. So much planning and collaboration went into the building of this museum, that I had to see it. It was Designed by Douglas Cardinal and a team of Native architects from different areas of the Americas. The outside of the building is just as much a work of art as what is inside. We spent some time walking around the building before heading inside, which was just as amazing as the outside. I adore when interior spaces flow into each other, and when you can have a sense of the exterior shape from the interior. What an amazing building. I should have been an architect, or at least a design student. But I say that about everything I'm interested in.